On August 16, 1960, he made the final jump, from the Excelsior III, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m).[2] Towing a small drogue parachute for initial stabilization, he fell for four minutes and 36 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 614 miles per hour (988 km/h)[4][5] before opening his parachute at 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Pressurization for his right glove malfunctioned during the ascent, and his right hand swelled to twice its normal size.[6][7] He set historical numbers for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump, longest drogue-fall (four minutes), and fastest speed by a human being through the atmosphere.[8] These are still current USAF records, but were not submitted for aerospace world records to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).[9]

For this series of jumps, Kittinger was decorated with a second Distinguished Flying Cross, and he was awarded the Harmon Trophy by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.[10]

Got to love how when i was younger, everyone i ever spoke to who watched events like these, only spoke about how amazing this/that was.

How exciting it is/was to witness it. These days it seems so many just talk about "Hope he dies" or "It'll break" or some negativity.

Too much death and violence on TV these days, obvious that some people crave it now..

Quoting: ShabbyOrange

That and people are so friggin stupid these days their heads explode attempting to comprehend what is going on. Shit half of them don't even know the difference between the jet stream and colorado river.

He'll make it and bust the sound barrier. That means I can spend my retirement doing this shit for fun once its perfected woot woot.

"There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know."